Addictive bean salad. February 18, 2013

Silence Dogood here. This morning, I was reading the January/February 2013 issue of Vegetarian Times and came upon a recipe for Black-Eyed Pea and Stewed Tomato Salad. (Check it out for yourself at http://www.vegetariantimes.com.) It looked incredible, and I’m sure it’s amazing. But I’m texture-sensitive, and have never been able to warm up to the mealy texture of black-eyed peas (even fresh) or to stewed tomatoes.

Fortunately, the recipe inspired me to remember one of my own that I haven’t made in ages:

Drain and rinse beans. Add all other ingredients except greens, stir well, cover, and allow to rest for 1/2 hour to several hours to let flavors marry. Serve on a generous bed of mixed greens as a stand-alone lunch. Savor the delicious taste and enjoy the thought that you’re doing something good for yourself. You can mix and refrigerate the bean-tomato marinade and take it to work, with greens packed separately, several days a week. (You can also save any leftover dressing and use it as stand-alone salad dressing or pour it over the next batch of bean-tomato salad.) Serves 2 for lunch, or 4 if served as the salad course before dinner.

Now I can’t wait to make this and enjoy it with our friend Ben! It seems like a perfect transitional salad as February and winter move toward March and spring.